Helen Mirren, Forest Whitaker and Martin Scorsese take top Oscar honors!

I don’t think many of the awards handed out will come as much of a surprise this year. There were so many great movies over the past year but some stood high above the crowd and it was clear that those movies and the actors that played in them would take home an Oscar Sunday evening.

Helen Mirren and Forest Whitaker took home the top acting prizes of course. Mirren thanked the Academy for “biggest and the best gold star that I have ever had in my life”. Whitaker, who was visibly moved for his win as Ugandan dictator idi Amin in The last King of Scotland took the time to thank everyone from his ancestors to the people of Uganda.

Martin Scorsese, won a long awaited Oscar for best Director. This award was a long time in coming as he’d been nominated five times before but had lost each time. Upon accepting his award he said “I’m overwhelmed with this honor. … I just want to say too that so many people over the years have been wishing this for me. I go into a doctor’s office, an elevator … .” After thanking a long list of colleagues and family members, he gave a final shout-out to his 7-year-old daughter Francesca: “Jump up and down and make a lot of noise in the hotel. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Jennifer Hudson was overcome with emotion when she was called up to accept her award – “I have to just take this moment,” she told the crowd. “I cannot believe this. Look what God can do.”

She continued tearfully, “If my grandmother was here to see me now – she was my biggest inspiration for everything. She was a singer. She had the passion for it but she never had the chance. But I’m so grateful to have my mother here celebrating with me, my boyfriend, my sisters and my brothers. … Thank you all for being with me.”

One surprise at the show was that Eddie Murphy did not take home an award for Best supporting actor. Instead the the award was given to Alan Arkin for his role in Little Miss Sunshine which also won for best Orginal Screenplay. – “More than anything,” he said, “I am deeply moved by the openhearted appreciation our small film has received.” He also credited the offbeat comedy’s cast and crew “for creating the same sense of joy and trust and community that the film speaks about.”

Ellen DeGeneres, the host of the 79th Academy Awards, kept things moving along and kept the mood friendly.

Gore took the award for Best Documentary feature “An Inconvenient Truth” and in accepting his award he said “My fellow Americans, people all over the world,” then continued, “[global warming is] not a political issue. It’s a moral issue. We need to solve the problem.”